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Years ago teh "buckyball" a ball shaped carbon atom was first created. Now a Japanese company is using "buckytubes" or carbon nanotubes in fuel cell technology. It is also suggested as a material to use for a space elivator. THis is because its tensile strengh far surpasses steel. Why not use it for
body armor. If not now then when its production costs go down.
Super Fibers: Nanotubes make tough threads
http://www.sciencen...g/20030614/fob3.asp
"researchers have spun [carbon nanotubes] into composite fibers that are tougher than steel, Kevlar, or spider silk....their extraordinary properties could also make them candidates for safety harnesses, explosion-proof blankets, or bulletproof vests..." [krelnik, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
[link]
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Someone at the University of Texas is baking this right now. See link. |
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I read this as Breasts: Kevlar, perhaps suggesting a new useful category for the filing of bulletproof implants and bras. |
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Bullet-proof bra... hm. Or maybe bucky-bra... |
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The single-wall carbon nanotubes to which I presume you refer (i.e., multi-wall carbon nanotubes are not as strong) are not only stronger than steel, and they are not only the strongest material yet created, they are in fact the strongest material that *can* be created. Not that I've determined this for myself in the lab, but my source is Dr. Richard Smalley, who won the 1996 Nobel Prize in physics for his work with Buckminster Fullerenes. He says we know that the C-C bond is the strongest among all element pairs, and that computations have proven that no arrangement of these bonds is stronger than the planar hexagonal lattice that comprises the SCNT walls. |
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They also have some rather fascinating electrical properties. |
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Thanks for the link krelnik |
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I would think that a single-crystal 3d diamond lattice would beat a planar lattice hands-down, simply because of the cross-linking between planes. But then again, those are simply arranged, and not bonded, aren't they... |
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Yeah, you would think that, Rayford, and Dr. Smalley acknowledged that that's the common assumption, but he said it turns out not to be the case. |
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<batfinknostalgia> 'Your bullets cannot harm me! My balls are like a shield of steel, oh wait, I mean carbon...' </batfink nostalgia > |
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//If a procedure to produce nuetron free atoms was discovered, then Maybe the strongest material possible can be determined and created.// |
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